News

Prevention and tackling of violence in the education sector in Latin America and the Caribbean: UNESCO and Colombia lead regional meeting

• The international organisation and Colombia’s Ministry of Education are convening ministers, regional organisations, experts, and civil society for a three-day meeting in Bogotá to devise an action plan addressing the violence impacting schools and their surrounding communities.

• The event will feature a participatory reflection on the role of education in preventing and eliminating violence in educational settings. Tensions, challenges, and lessons learned will be examined to safeguard the right to education free from any form of violence.

1 November 2024

Last update:5 November 2024

Latin America and the Caribbean, like other regions around the world, are not immune to violence and continue to face significant repercussions from this reality on the right to education for millions of children and young people. In light of this urgent issue, UNESCO, together with Colombia’s Ministry of National Education and with support from the Faculty of Education at Universidad de los Andes, is hosting regional leaders, organisations, and experts from 5 to 7 November 2024 in Bogotá for the High-Level Regional Meeting on the Prevention and Response to Violence in the Education Sector.

Despite various strategies implemented by governments in the region to mitigate violence, fragmented policies, along with emerging challenges—such as the effects of climate change, forced recruitment of students, and the regulation of digital educational spaces—have made the prevention and tackling of violence a priority on the educational agendas of Latin America and the Caribbean. Although there has been a reduction in political violence, the region remains deeply affected by criminal violence, violating the fundamental rights of children and young people, who are often forced into recruitment or live in areas controlled by criminal organisations.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the homicide rate in the region is five times higher than in North America and ten times higher than in Asia, with estimates suggesting that over one-third of global homicides occur in this region, which represents just 9% of the world’s population. The United Nations has warned that violence against children and adolescents remains a priority issue. In countries in the region surveyed by United Nations agencies, two out of five sixth-grade students reported having been bullied, and at least one in eight suffered physical assaults.

“Violence in educational settings is a problem that profoundly affects the lives of students across the region. We must act urgently and in a coordinated manner to transform schools into safe and protective spaces for everyone in the education sector. This regional meeting is an invaluable opportunity for Latin American and Caribbean countries to develop collaborative, evidence-based responses, drawing on the region’s accumulated experience. We are not only protecting the right to education but also laying the foundation for a fairer, more peaceful, and inclusive society,” said Esther Kuisch Laroche, Director of UNESCO’s Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean.

“Our commitment is to fight for the wellbeing of our children, adolescents, and young people, so that they find safe and protective spaces in their schools and communities where they can benefit from a holistic education, with more art, culture, sports, science, technology, and innovation, and less violence—or even zero violence. With the ‘Revolution of Change,’ we are committed to an education that takes the territory into account, reaching remote and marginalised regions to make Colombia a beacon of life and to work for the legacy of present and future generations. We value this meeting with other countries in the region to seek strategies that allow us to address the various forms of violence affecting schools and their communities,” stated Colombia’s Minister of National Education, Daniel Rojas Medellín.

Three days of activities

The first day, 5 November, will focus on dialogue and the exchange of practices and experiences regarding the role of education in preventing and addressing violence within schools, their surroundings, communities, and in digital spaces, with the aim of inspiring innovative solutions and approaches.

The second day, 6 November, will have two segments: first, UNESCO, with support from the Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU), will organise a high-level meeting for education ministers and their delegations to discuss strategies for tackling violence in school environments. During this segment, regional leaders are expected to formulate an action plan to strengthen cooperation and technical exchange among countries and consolidate commitments to effectively address violence in education.

The second segment of this day will be led by Colombia’s Ministry of Education and will consist of visits to schools and innovative projects, with the intention of inspiring key technical staff and partners from UNESCO’s Regional Education Network for Global Citizenship in designing and implementing innovative initiatives to prevent and tackle violence.

On the third and final day, 7 November, members of the Regional Education Network for Global Citizenship will facilitate an exchange with technical representatives from the region’s education ministries to share resources and capabilities that will enhance the strategies defined in the previous days. This collaboration will provide technical support to consolidate the proposed initiatives and ensure their effective implementation in the short, medium, and long term.

The conclusions and proposed action plan from this international event will serve to amplify the experiences, voices, and perspectives of the education sector at the First Global Ministerial Conference to End Violence Against Children, reinforcing UNESCO Member States’ commitment to inclusive, equitable, and quality education, and paving the way for peaceful, safe, and democratic societies.